Mental wanderings of a common man.

Taliban reportedly wants to talk peace. Actually, they'd like us to surrender

Word is coming out that the leader of the Taliban, Mullah Omar, is making noises about holding peace talks with “western politicians.” According to the reports, Omar no longer wants to rule Afghanistan:

In an interview with The Sunday Times, two of the movement’s senior Islamic scholars have relayed a message from the Quetta shura, the Taliban’s ruling council, that Mullah Omar no longer aims to rule Afghanistan. They said he was prepared to engage in “sincere and honest” talks.

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At a meeting held at night deep inside Taliban-controlled territory, the Taliban leaders told this newspaper that their military campaign had only three objectives: the return of sharia (Islamic law), the expulsion of foreigners and the restoration of security.

Oh, is that all? So, he’s offering peace so long as everything goes back to the way it was before we kicked his tin-plated ass out for harboring Al Qaeda. Gee, what a deal. Omar’s spokesman – a man who goes by a pseudonym to protect his identity – says Omar is “no longer interested in being involved in politics or government.” Considering he’s wanting to dictate his terms and enforce certain behaviors on the nation, sounds like he’s still wanting to be involved in politics and government to me. Sounds like his idea of “peace talks” is that we give him everything he wants and then get lost. Which is another way of saying that we’d surrender.

I have a counter-proposal for Omar and his team. They can surrender. If they honestly want no part of politics or government then this can be a piece of cake. Omar and his men turn over their arms to the Afghan government, pledge allegiance to the same, and stop blowing crap up. They completely remove all of the explosives they’ve placed, turn in all of their weapons, and work to repair the sabotage they’ve inflicted on the country. I guarantee you they will be utterly amazed at how fast American troops start to withdraw if they actually do all of that. We Americans may not like sharia law, but if they can peacefully convince their fellow Afghans that that’s the way to go, we’ll leave them to it and come home. Let them work with the Afghan government to keep terrorists from using their country as a resupply and training base and they’ll never hear from us, militarily, again.